The Tower of Frozen Shadows
by Talyana Truebreeze
Summary: Taking of the Frozen Tower.....


A tall dark shadow of black across the white landscape that is Iceclad.. the Tower of Frozen shadows loomed before Talyana. Its Black body an evil contrast to the pure snow surrounding it. The swirls of the Snow Dervishes that guarded the gate could be heard from even as far off as she stood. She knew that she was safe beneath this tree. Even the Cougars were afraid to get too close to the Tower. Squinting her eyes against the brightness of the sun on the snow, she looked around for her crew. Non had arrived yet. But she was anxious to get inside. She knew that between them all they had managed to locate keys all the way up to the 6th floor of the Tower.   
  
The crunch of the snow beneath her feet as she ran towards the gilmmering mirror of the Tower was covered by the whirls and swishes of the dervishes who started at her approach. She lowered her head and ran straight for the glass, bracing herself for the impact and the shatter. To her surprise the mirror seemed to reach out and suck her in. She went through with ease...as if through air. Landing in an undignified pile on the steps at the base of the tower. Looking up quickly, prepairing for a battle with anything at the enterance that might give her trouble, but the first floor looked empty. She scooted into a corner quietly and pulled a bar of gold and some gems out of her pack .. she worked on her Jewelcrafting while waiting for her groupmates to arrive.  
  
Tolken showed up first. Smiling at her brightly as he sat to arrange his healing spells. They talked about their plan of attack as Ville and Stoyrm popped through the mirror. After getting settled, Stoy started pulling the locals into their room to be dispatched one by one, making a clear path to the Mirror to the next level.  
  
Davnar and Jaxxem burst through the mirror and the plan was set. Run through the first two floors and fight up from there. The path to the first Mirror was clear and the team slid across the icy first floor. Once all gathered around the eerie mirror Ville pulled out the key and opened the gate to the next floor.  
  
The library lay out before them.. the souls of tormented students floating from book case to book case. Stoyrm's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the ghostly Librarian and her assistant. Pulling the string on his bow back tightly and letting his arrow fly, hitting its target and bringing the Librarian on us. They made short work of her and her assistant and broke for the mirror to the 3rd floor.  
  
Upon entering the 3rd floor we were greeted with empty halls. Looking around warily, expecting an ambush they spied a cleric in the corner and his friend who had cleared the way for us already. Smiling and thanking him the group moved quickly onward... seeking the next mirror. We knew the 4th floor would me the real deal. The Floor of Mazes... full of mobs of various types and dead ends if you werent careful. Upon entering the floor they were set upon by several creatures.. all calling out to their friends for assistance. The next half hour spend just clearing the entrance to the maze was intense. Talyana cast stuns through out the entrance and mezmerized the creatures into submission as Stoyrm called the assist and dispatched them one by one.Villeneuve snaring the creatures so they could not run for aid. Tolken kept each of us in good health easily. Stoyrm reached into his pack, pulling out a map of the maze and leading us through quickly. Suddenly over the sounds of our feet the cackle of Cara could be heard. The group looked at each other and every one had the same glimmer in their eye and smile on their lips.... Cara would be theirs. As the came upon Cara her back was to them as she cast various spells and muttered under her breath.. occasionally raising her volume into a hair raising cackle. She looked young and beautiful until she caught our scent and turned around. Seeing her for the first time made Talyana gasp. Cara's skin was a scaley green and her face of a very old hag. Hate blazing in her eyes as red sparks flew from her fingers catching Stoyrm off guard. He grunted in pain and shock for a moment.. then went off on her with his double bladed attack. Jaxxem shimmered in a red cloud of sparkles as his spell struck Cara full on and she groaned. Davnar and Stoyrm continued to hack and slash at the witch. Tolkens spells were flying.. taking chunks of health from Cara and seemingly giving them to his friends. Talyanas lips moved silently in a spell and she pulled the knowledge and power of the magic from Cara... then cast a powerful damage spell that brought Cara to her knees. With a final swing of their blades, Cara was down. And from her hand fell a key to the next floor. They rested a moment and gathered their wits about them. For they knew on the next floor a Wedding party awaited them. Talyana had a feeling the Bride would never be a Wife. She wouldnt live that long....  
  
They burst through the Mirror onto the 5th floor and were greeted by six Golem Ushers. The Ushers didnt seem to notice their uninvited arrival. So Stoyrm targeted the first Usher and let him know they had visitors. The first Golem grabbed a friend and ran at the group. Talyana mezed the additional Golem as the rest of the group chisled away at the first Golem. Starting in on the second before the first body hit the floor. After pounding on it for about for a few minutes they knew he was as good as dead. But suddenly one minute he was there then the next he was gone. Talyanas eyes scaned the area. The only thing that came to her mind when her eyes locked on to the missing Golem was... Uh Oh. He ran between the other 4 dormant Golems.. calling for their assistance. All 5 golems were on the group before they could have said Boo. Standing back against the wall Talyana threw out an Area Mez that hit all but two. The one that her friends were finishing of. And a tough little bugger that resisted her spell. Angered at her interference, he charged across the room and pinned her against the mirror, throwing her through it. She hit the snow outside of the Tower with a thud an scrambled to get away from it. Once at a safe distance she looked up and her eyes traced her fall... if not for the soft snow below...   
  
After catching her breath and gathering her wits about her, she barreled back into the Tower, flying at the Mirror at the base. Breaking through the plane of the mirror and shouting to her friends above. After several minutes the battle above ended with the Blades victorious. They made their way back to the base of the Tower to get Tal and fight back up again, more determined to go further and extract revenge for the delay. They marched through the first and second floors with ease. A few brief scuffles on the third and they found themselves on the 4th again. Expecting to come on a gang of mobs like the first time up , the were pleasantly surprised to find no obstacles until the mirror. Several Shadows set upon Davnar. After a fierce battle with the Shadows, Tolken brought Davnar back from the brink of death with his magical healing touch. They sat to rest again.. making sure everyone was in full heath and high spirits before setting in on the Wedding Party again. This time the six Golems fell with out a hitch. Stoyrm pulled the wedding party one by one as the group dispatched of them with ease. After battling through the guests and party members he started in on the Bride and Groom. The last to fall was the Priest. He proved to be a tough customer, but the group of Blades prevailed.  
  
Later in West Commonlands, the group sold their bounty and split the proceeds. Walking away from this adventure with experiance under their belts and platinum in their pockets.... until the next time...... 


End file.
